Life isn't about Happiness

We are not living the Pursuit of Happiness. People who strive their whole lives to 'find happiness' are just wasting their time. It is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So if our lives aren't about being happy, why do we continually make decisions based on what will make us happy?

Philippians 2:3-4 says 'Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others about yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the other.' In case you missed it, it's saying my life isn't about me. I didn't put myself on this earth, God did. When I was younger, I got a giant doll house for my birthday. It was literally as tall as I was and I got to arrange the furniture, play with the little dolls, and imagine a world any way I wanted to. I was in total control. I can't even imagine how upset I would have been if my little figurines started moving themselves around like they could do whatever they wanted. I was definitely the ruler of the doll village, not the dolls.

Sometimes it's easier for me to understand how my life isn't about me when it's in the context of it was never 'my' life to begin with. God's plan for me is why I'm here and I passionately believe I need to help others instead of helping myself. Figuring out my life trajectory should be answering how can I help others get ahead instead of how I can get ahead. I don't need to even ponder what I can do that would make me happy, it's all about what can I do that will help people the most. I am a child of the Creator of the universe, so obviously I plan on changing the world with God. But nothing will happen until I get myself out of the way and start putting others interests ahead of my own.

I always knew I wanted a career doing thing that would help other people. I'm not as completely selfish as I may come off. My disconnect is where I thought building myself up and gaining power is how I could turn around and help people the most. The most influential people in the world are never the ones who make the biggest impact on people. Consider the Wright brothers. They were underqualified, underfunded, and undereducation. But it was their determination that lead them to learn how to fly. That one invention has impacted people all over the globe and changed everyone's world. I don't need to be a CEO of a fortune 500 company, or the president of the US, or some global chairman. All it takes to change the world is the determination to help others.

After college, there is an abundance of freedom. Not only in your daily activities, but in your direction. There is no specific path that you have to follow, or uniform structure to how things should pan out. This is the time when we have our chance to make life anything we want. Unfortunately, the majority of people I've met have decided that all they want from life is to be 'happy.' No offense, or maybe a little offense, but that is the biggest waste of a life goal there is. At your funeral, the one thing people will say about you was 'Oh well at least she was happy!' Absolutely not. I refuse to waste the one chance I have to make a difference in the world on a selfish ambition.

Potential for Change

What happens when we stop making a difference? What happens when we are so repetitive we get overlooked by the world? What happens when no one believes in our world changing ideas?

At this crossroad, we will either pick up and find a more stimulating and creative environment or we will settle and watch our potential smother. The former are the Drew Houston, Jack Dorsey,  and Mark Zuckerbergs of our generation. The ones who physically cannot settle for anything less that life changing. The latter are the names we've never heard of, the slow and steady minds who get overlooked for CEO promotions and never get Googled by strangers. Becoming the settler is something that the majority of my generations fears more than being alone but not quite as much as the fear of failure.

I believe we all start out somewhere between the two extremes. And within the first two years of our career we will either choose ambition and take on the chance of failure, we will remain constant, or we cannot choose. Not choosing is what causes so many quarter life crisis. I'm not blaming everyone who has this disruptions for not picking an extreme, but understand that at the root of a lot of crisis is indecision. Sometimes this is an unavoidable phase because we need that experience in order to harness our actual potential. We need to test the boundaries of our strength, will power, dedication and mental control. This is only a negative if the chance to learn and discover your true self is bypassed.

Good employers have a fear that their new young investments will leave after 2-3 years and have a life of 'job hopping' because they have an issue with commitment. I disagree. We will only leave a good job because it doesn't offer everything we want be way of experience, flexibility, advancement, mentoring, and stimulation. It is not commitment we are scared of, it is being average. I don't want to help others an average amount, or work an average amount, or grow a company at an average pace. I want to put my whole heart into everything I do because whole-hearted people are the ones who get to change the world.